Discord’s New Guidelines

So, Discord recently added a new “Guidelines” for their service. A lot of what’s in there I actually agree with, but there are some concerns regarding it. I’ll go through each piece step by step, as I can explain it better that way:

Organizing and participating in raids or other forms of harassment. Do not engage in or post content encouraging the harassment of individuals or communities. If someone is harassing you or your community, be proactive and block them immediately. Use the report button to notify our team of any harassment you encounter.

I agree with the no raid policy, but it really should be up to server owners to decide if they want it. (Although, there’s no way for Discord to know unless it’s reported, so if you allow it on your server, make sure everyone knows not to report it.) Heck, I’ve done Brain Power and tons of spam on my own server, so if I ever got raided, I’d out spam you anyway. ? ) Harassment is always wrong, but everyone has their own definition of what that is. For one, saying “you suck” might be to one person, but to many others it isn’t.

Circumventing tools that enable users to protect themselves and/or repeatedly targeting a user with unwanted friend requests or messages. Do not create spam accounts for the sake of annoying users with requests or other tactics. Do not disguise yourself in attempt to contact someone who has blocked you. Show respect to other people’s desire for space.

I agree this as well. Makes sense.

Do not share images of gore and/or animal cruelty. Do not share or post graphic images for sadistic pleasure, glorification or celebration of violence. It’s gross and not welcome on Discord.

I agree, but at the same time, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be allowed in private channels explicitly marked.

Sharing illustrated pornography which depicts minors (such as lolicon or shotacon). We believe it’s tasteless and doesn’t belong on Discord.

So that’s what that is. LUL (Seriously, I live in a closet and never knew what that was. Thanks Discord!) Again, in private clearly marked channels, meh.

Do not share content that violates another person’s contractual, personal, intellectual property or other rights. Do not share or post links that violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We respond to DMCA requests as described in our Terms of Service.

This is an odd one, technically sharing an image of a movie violates that. Heck, even listening to copyrighted music on voice channels violates that, as your sharing music without consent. Hopefully Discord doesn’t go full retard and slide down that slippery slope.

Not properly labeling NSFW channels. Some content just isn’t appropriate for kids under 18, so let’s do the right thing in our community. Discord requires that you label any channel containing adult content as NSFW. This will add an age gate to the channel, protecting those who wish not to see.

100% perfectly fine with this.

Sharing content or promoting, in general, self-harm or suicide. Don’t post content that promotes or glorifies self-harm or suicide. This includes any content that encourages others to: cut or injure themselves; embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders; or commit suicide rather than, for example, seeking counseling or treatment. Online communities have the power to lift people up from dark places – be the kind of person who lifts others.

I agree we should all be helping people and not condemning them, but if someone mistakes a joke, that’s on them. We really don’t need to walk on egg shells trying not to offend anyone lest they kill themselves. (I don’t mean “KYS” as a joke, either, everything could offend someone and an extremely sensitive person could actually commit suicide over anything.)

Spamming of the support team, trust and safety team, and report button. Do not use these channels to make false reports or spam multiple reports to Discord. We are committed to addressing each item as they come in as quickly as we can.

I’ve never had to contact the support team, but I’m sure they’re fairly quick (within 1 week, I’d guess) to respond, but this is common sense. Also, they point out making fake reports, which hopefully should limit people from reporting just because their feelings were hurt. hopefully…

Don’t do anything illegal on Discord. This is directly from our Terms of Service. We will take immediate action if you: Violate any applicable laws or regulations, or promote or encourage any illegal activity including, but not limited to, hacking, cracking or distribution of counterfeit software, or cheats or hacks for our or another company or person’s Service. Basically, don’t post or post links to hacks/cracks/exploits in games/software.

Well, duh. However, what laws? Discord is a Californian company, so I’d assume it’s those laws? Some types of guns are illegal in CA, is talking about guns on Discord a violation? It’s a slippery slope, not saying Discord will go all authoritarian and use the most extreme laws from across the world, but it’s something to worry about. If they keep to only hacking/cracking games/software, this should be fine. They specifically say it’s not limited to that, though.

Do not share content that is found to be directly threatening someone’s physical or financial state. Do not threaten to harm another person or someone related to another person in any capacity. Do not tell other people you will hurt or kill them. KYS is a stupid acronym, even sarcastically.

Threatening or encouraging someone to kill themselves is obviously wrong, but saying KYS in an obviously sarcastic tone when everyone is being sarcastic, well, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I’d hate to have some random nobody come in to my server, see someone post KYS takes it completely out of context, then get banned from all of Discord. Basically, context matters. Discord is saying it doesn’t.

Do not share content related to minors that is sexually suggestive or violent. Do not share or post links to images that depict minors or underage individuals engaged in violent, sexually suggestive, shameful, or otherwise inappropriate situations.

I agree with this.

Do not share or threaten to share personal information of another user – this includes but is not limited to home address, phone number, email, social security number, and photos. Respect other people’s desire for privacy.

Also 100% agree.

Do not share or link to content with intent to shame or degrade another individual. Do not share or promote sharing of revenge porn. Don’t be a bully. Don’t be an ass.

“Don’t be an ass.” This is 100% subjective and can’t be defined in any meaningful way. Basically, anything that could hurt someones feelings, which to the wrong person is 100% of everything. Heck, saying “Merry Christmas” could be someone “being an ass” if the other person doesn’t celebrate it. This right here is probably the slipperiest slope there is, and nearly impossible to avoid. Anything that could offend anyone is now ban-able.

Do not distribute viruses or pirated software. Do not engage in or promote phishing activities. Do not threaten another user with digital harm including but not limited to viruses, hacking, and spying.

This already stated previously, and most communities are against it. (Though, if the company makes it impossible to even get the software/game, I don’t mind so much. Also, piracy isn’t illegal if you own the software originally.)